Dell Offering Samsung Encrypted SSDs, Security Suite

Dell is rolling out a new suite of mobile data security solutions for its Latitude line of laptops, including encrypted solid-state drives from Samsung that are due in "the coming months."

"We think of security in terms of being preventative and protective," Dell senior product planner Craig Durr told eWEEK. "Preventative tends to be preventing unauthorized access and attacks from viruses and spam, and protective is in regard to protecting the asset itself and also the data."

In conversations with Dell users, Durr says, "CIOs will say the computer is important, but the data is even more so."

Research from the Ponemon Institute, sponsored by Dell, revealed that whole-disk encryption is believed to be one of the most effective ways to secure data.

"The value of the solid-state drive is it adds durability to a weak part of the notebook," said Durr. "You have no moving parts [with an SSD], so you get a more-reliable product with greater durability. And now we're also overlaying encryption to the product."

Dell's new security suite will include:

- The Dell ControlPoint Security Manager, which gathers hardware and security settings within one user interface.

- The Dell ControlVault, which enables Dell Latitude E4200, E4300, E6400 and E6500 notebooks to be configured with a security engine that protects end-user security credentials. A hardware-based solution, it features a dedicated chip for storing and processing user passwords, biometric templates and security codes.

- An Integrated RSA SecurID, which offers two-factor authentication for hardware-level security for the storage of RSA SecurID software tokens and one-time password generation, eliminating the need for a separate hardware token.

"It's the equivalent of soldering a one-time-password key fob to the motherboard," said Durr. "You can store credentials and process them outside of the operating system, to help prevent unauthorized access [from things like sniffers]."

User authentication will also be heightened through a contactless smart card reader from HID, along with smart cards and fingerprint readers, enabling organizations to implement multifactor authentication.

Security is increasingly being taken more seriously, as more information becomes mobile, information breaches cost companies millions of dollars and customer confidence, and the public, press and government hold businesses to greater levels of accountability.